Butterfly Party! With cake!
So the party was a success. We had food and drinks and cake and butterflies! What more?
I do have some sad news though. It appears that we may have lost three of our little caterpillars. The ones that were still hanging never opened. It’s been 21 days and the temps have been brutal. For our very first time taking care of butterflies, I would say that eight out of eleven is pretty darn good!
The pics below are of the last three chrysalis. On the 18th and then today. There seems to be a hole in the side of one, and it looked hollow inside.
The pic above is the cake.
The video is the last two butterflies being released. The camera is a little jerky, and once they go, you really can’t see them. Also we are all talking way too loud and over each other. It can be annoying. But stay with it.
When the first butterfly actually picks up and flies away, the kids’ reactions are worth the time.
Still look viable.
And now, 5 days and 90 degrees later, not so much.
We did a good thing.
And now for a little break.
It is Tuesday at 11 am. I am home from school and my second test. Nervous, sweaty, fear does not describe my total feelings, but it’s a start. It is really hot again today. Summer did come in with its usual vengeance. Sudden and swift. The first day of 90 degrees actually started during the night. Yes, it got hotter as the night progressed. It makes no sense. I think about it, but I have to stop. How can the temperature rise despite the setting sun and darkness, when theoretically it should get cooler. I know it’s a weather question and I am going to be a nurse, so, who cares? I will when I’m working emergency and it’s 100 degrees and everyone is over heated and ticked off and people start doing crazy things that end them up in the ER for me to work on. And I say, “How can it get hotter???” I’ll be praying for bad weather. It keeps people indoors and off the streets!
Anytesting…Second one was today. I literally studied most of the day Saturday, some Sunday, and hours more on Monday. In the day and the night. I can’t imagine when I have to do paperwork and skills. I’ll be sticking everyone I see with needles and taking their blood pressures and trying to give them enemas. I kid.
Unofficially, I missed zero questions on this test. All correct. That is good news. Without details, know that it is essential to miss as few as possible to achieve passing, for one, and higher scores, in the A and B range, for another. But I was sweating. You only have so much time, and I try not to second guess myself, and I studied for, like, 15 hours! Pressure.
(Personal revelation to follow, if you care.) I’ve always been strong with the book skills and pretty good with the hands-on. But I still get too nervous. I have a CPR class to take in the next few weeks and I want to go in strong. I know the whole thing has changed again since I did it last, but it still makes me jittery. I’m not sure if there is any breathing now, or if it’s just compression. I stink at the breaths. Luckily, for someone out there; experience-only-unlucky for me; I’ve never had to do it on a real person and when I was EMT (many many many years ago—very briefly) we used a bag. No mouth contact. Anyway, I’ve only used lifesaving once on a baby, choking. And that was just taps on the back. That’s a good thing. With more experience comes more ease of care. So we’ll find out.
Anyway, there’s a few more weeks left of school for the summer and one Final Test. Yikes.
As celebration I got McDonald’s–yay! I haven’t eaten those delicious burrito’s in WEEKS! For shame! I should have celebrated by running a fast four miles. Oh well. Don’t want to get heatstroke. And, I had to wait for my humiliation! It’s those hash browns. They take forever. But, it cost less than 5 bucks so, fair trade for my fat butt.
Next up are the butterflies. I have pics from the party. You didn’t think I forgot did you? I really have been focusing on school. I love it. And I want to do good. Stay tuned!
More Butterflies!More Butterflies!
In a giant burst of 84 degree sunshine and blue skies, is how we left our box of caterpillar chrysalis’, just hanging there looking like nothing was going on.
The single butterfly that emerged on Sunday fluttered around a few hours, hunkered down for the chill night, and waited for dawn. The sun rose and our butterfly flew. Literally. He wanted the hell out of his box by 9:30 am. We opened the top and he was gone. The video is below. I tried to catch it all very cinematically, but the butterfly was too fast. By the time I knew which way he went he was gone. In the video you can see a black blob flying over the roof of the house. That was him.
10 more to go.
Fast forward to 3 pm. It’s Monday. Seriously, 84 degrees. Warm. Outside in the butterfly box…1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Holy Hell! Seven more butterflies! And these don’t look all weak and wet. These look big, healthy, colorful, strong….just so amazing. I have never seen anything like it!
If you ever get the chance to birth butterflies, I say try it out. It really is an incredible force of nature.
Anyhow, so we have 5 butterflies hanging out at the bottom of the bin, and 2 still in the milk jug. We tip that over so they can crawl out and then remove it. There is only three more left and those are hanging from the top of the milk jug my neighbor had cut for escape. Crazy butterflies.
So we add more grass and leaves and flowers and I call my daughter. At the rate the butterflies are emerging, she’s never going to make it home to see any of them. As suspected, she wants to come home. She says, “Mom??? Can you come and get me??? Hurry Mom, I’ll get all my stuff packed…hurry…I’m going to miss them.” Within the hour she was back. All seven are out now, fluttering around looking really healthy.
We took out the milk jug and studied the chrysalis. We had been really worried moving them around because we didn’t want to knock the chrysalis off the side. We figured they had to be pretty secure seeing as normally they would be outside somewhere, hanging in the wind and rain with animals, etc. But they just look so fragile. Up close and empty we tried to get them off, and they are on there with super-glue. Impossible. You would kill the caterpillar before you could unstick the chyrsalis.
As soon as we started fixing up the butterfly box, one flew away. Up and out. Just like that. Then another. And another. And another. Now we only had three! It’s fun to watch them go, but hard to see them leave. We only had them a few hours. You want to keep them forever. You can’t of course, because they will die. They need to go and fly. Our box isn’t big enough for the long haul.
My daughter and neighbor planned a Butterfly Party for Thursday. That’s tomorrow. Just a small gathering of our family, sisters, nieces and nephews, collectively, to celebrate this amazing bit of nature. We tried to time the birthing to hit 15 days. But we didn’t really understand what that meant. The party is still going but we might not have any left!
While we were deciding what we should do…try and keep any? Let them all go and hope the last three emerge by Thursday? What if they don’t?
Another one flew away. Now we have 2. This last one perched on the neighbors gutter for awhile, just absorbing all that freedom, before it finally flew away for good.
Seven was too many, but two might be ok for a day. The internet said they can be kept for a day or so, but then they have to go.
It rained all day yesterday and was cooler. The butterflies we have kind of just sat around. It’s funny, they’re just like people! Rainy=Lazy. The chrysalis’ of the remaining three just hung.
Today is Wednesday. It’s overcast and barely 70 degrees at 10 am. The sun looks like it wants to shine. If it warms up more the rest should emerge and that would be perfect! I think we have to let the two go. Three days seems too long.
So far we are 8 for 11. We were seriously hoping for just one. So I’d say we did pretty good! This is the 15th day of the 10-15 range given. We’ll keep it updated as it happens.
Of course there are pictures. You can really see the blue dots on these. If I can get the video uploaded in a decent amount of time that will be here to. And now…butterflies!
2 out and 2 emerging. The red liquid underneath must be what is in the chrysalis with them.
Fresh from the chrysalis!
Four in the flowers.
One on the other side.
Two in the milk jug.
We have BUTTERFLY!!
Sorry, this is Tuesday. My education obligations and medical appointments had me running. No time for the computer. Until now!
We had our first butterfly on Sunday!
Just one little guy…well…he was big…bigger than I thought. But he was all alone. And Stevie (my daughter) was not home! She was with her dad. I tried to get hold of her all day, but no luck. Sunday went into Monday. Our butterfly dried and fluttered and flew around in his small home. He was hanging upside down on the netting on top of the container. We tried to let him go at dusk, Sunday night…no luck. He just stayed stuck. So we tucked him in for the night and waited until Monday morning. Less than 45 seconds with the net back and off he went. I tried to catch as much on video…but you know how these young butterflies can be! Off to find a mate! Not even a Disney pause to say thanks!
Oh well. The rest were still hanging all chyrsalis-style. Not moving. That was 10 am. Monday. These pics and video are from that point.
I also checked the internet for any care tips or general butterfly info. A few things I learned:
1. The warmer the temperature outside/inside/wherever they are hanging, determines the speed of metamorphosis. Broad time frame, 10-15 days. We had our first at Day 12.
2. The new butterflies only need to dry for a few hours. Our first guy took many hours. But….
3. They need heat to fly! Their wings, and bodies, need to be warm in order to lift off the ground and stay lifted. Once they get flying the energy it takes to keep flying generates the heat they need! That’s why…
4. Alot of butterflies have darker exterior wing colors. To absorb the heat of the sun. That’s also why…
5. They flutter their wings! It creates more surface area and warms up their bodies. Who knew?
6. Butterfly caterpillars make a chrysalis. Moth caterpillars make cocoons. (The guy on the internet was kind of picky about this distinction)
7. Once the butterfly flies away, they look for mates, start a family, lay their eggs, and die.
8. It is kind of sad, but these particular type, Mourning Cloak, can live up to 10 months! Pretty long for a butterfly. We are nothing, if not sturdy out here in the Midwest!
9. One extra fyi–The Mourning Cloak is so named because its wings resemble the type of cloak that was worn in the 1800’s for mourning the dead.
And now YOU know too! Go out and impress your friends. First take a look at these though:
He was a milk jug caterpillar. After busting out of the chrysalis, he clung to the side for awhile.
Opening the wings.
Creating a home at the bottom of the plastic tub.
We noticed purple flowers were the favorite.
Just not ready to go yet...
In case you were curious. This is their very temporary home. Exterior.
Interior. With non-emerged chrysalis. There are 6 hanging. (Hard to see) And 4 more inside the milk jug. We had a total of 11.
Cocoon Update! Soon to be followed by a Butterfly Update! (Real soon!)
Almost immediately after the caterpillars were in the milk container they began the process of making their cocoons. We had eleven caterpillars, and we have 11 cocoons. It is pretty amazing. It took them only a few hours to create the cocoon around themselves. And now they hang. Waiting. Time and temperature decide how fast they metamorphisize. We estimated June 18.
Follow the whole story HERE. (First posting)
These are pics of the caterpillars when we first caught them.
The SECOND day. What happened overnight?
Here’s the pics from a few days ago, below:
(These are the best I could get without disturbing them, since after all the trouble my neighbor and daughter went to making a place they could hang from, they just attached to the top of the milk jug.)
Ahhh, 4pm Friday Afternoon…
It’s 75 degrees south of the City. Sunny and breezy. The kids are gone for the weekend. And I’m trying to decide what to do.
Go to the gym and run 4 miles on the treadmill or kick back with my friend Jack and a Diet Coke?
Hmmm…
The question almost answers itself. Join me won’t you? I need a new game. We drink when Charlie drinks, is over for now. We blew through all 5 seasons of that show. And now we have to wait. It’s like breaking up with a boyfriend. Sad. But, the world keeps spinning, so…
I’ll make mine and you make yours and we’ll just hang out and post silly stuff all over the internets tonight until we can’t type straight.
I’ll go first.
What do you think of when I say, “Giant Spiders” ?
And…..drink! Happy Weekend!
Giant Spider. Giant. Spider. Giant. F-ing. Spider.
Eeewww. Yuk. Creeped out. Goosebumps. Hair standing up. Bleh bleh bleh…. Still.
I almost went into cardiac arrest last night getting up to turn off the light.
The LARGEST. The HAIRIEST. The BLACKEST. The CREEPIEST. Spider I have EVER seen in a house, was on my floor last night. Chilling and reading a magazine. I think I saw a cup of coffee in one of his hands? Claws? Pincers? Yuck. Yuck. And Yuck.
I’m no baby about wildlife. I’m not really afraid of spiders. The concrete slab we live on is full of creatures from the underworld that like to come topside every now and then to remind us that we are NOT alone. Fine. Whatever. But this was NOT a “spider”. This was a SPIDER. Like how a tarantula is a spider. Huge and in its own weight class. Yuck. Just typing it is making me feel all creepy inside.
Ok. So I see it, from across the room. Stop dead. Like not moving. I was immovable. Like stone. I barely looked at the BF to alert him to the situation. He saw it. You really couldn’t miss it. I’d say it was the size of a tealight candle. A black, hairy, tarantula tealight on my beige carpet.
Now, if you don’t think that a tealight is all that big and most likely not scary, try scattering a few of them around on your floor and then decide. And remember: It’s a spider. It can move. Fast. A hairy, black, fast-moving tealight. Yeah. No thanks.
I sneak into the kitchen so it doesn’t see me and get like, 10 papertowels in a bunch, to hand off to the BF. The BF made ONE step toward the spider and it just casually backed into the space between the TV and a speaker. Like, whatever, good luck, you ain’t getting me, I SEE you.
OMG! A spider with acute vision and brains. It’s like a damn hamster. Luckily it had no where to go except back out the front. The BF could see it from the top with a flashlight, just sitting there on the floor. The BF says, “If I just had something to coax it out with, like a stick or something…” Oh, OK. Good idea. I get the backscratcher. Straight, long, even has the curvy, scratch part you can use like a handle!
So the BF puts the stick down into his spider lair and holds the papertowels by the opening between the furniture. (I am way over on the other side of the room, by the kitchen door. I did go get a shoe to smash him with, just in case he made a dash my way, but I wasn’t looking to be a hero.)
I wish I was lying when I say the BF was literally, NUDGING this giant ass spider out between the two walls of the furniture. Nudging it like a mouse or a gerbil or a CAT. Yikes! I’m like, “Can you see it?” He says, “Oh yeah…he’s coming.”
What?!? Oh geez…it’s like pushing a fussy child toward the other kids on the playground. The spider had, like, 6 of his legs all locked down and in fighting stance while the BF is trying to push it out into the open with a back scratching stick that seems woefully too short at this point. The spider was holding onto the stick with his other 2 legs and trying to wrestle it away from the BF. Like tug-of-war, arachnid style. Thank god, I was not home alone. I would have had to go to a hotel or something. There was no way I would have been able to sleep knowing that spider was just hanging out, waiting for it to get dark, so it could come out and crawl on me. I’d throw it a sandwich and get the hell out of there.
Since this is real life and NOT a movie, the humans prevailed. The spider was overpowered; pushed into the light and squeezed to death in a wad of papertowels. I promise you, there was no way I was able to take a picture. I could not stop shaking from the heebie-jeebies. Trust that this spider was huge. No exaggeration. The BF is very level-headed and not prone to over embellishing a story like I might do….and even he said, very casually, “yeah, that’s a pretty big spider…”
So there you have it. A pretty big spider. Pretty dead spider now. I do feel kind of bad though. We had a large spider, (female, I chose to believe at the time–just a guess–nothing scientific), hanging out on our kitchen window. The outside. She had a huge web strung from window to house to eave, and she was just SO big! I felt that a creature that fearsome and strong, that could survive long enough to get that big, deserved to live and be left alone. I would just give the window a WIDE berth when going past to get in the back door. Those kinds of spiders jump when they’re startled and I did not want it jumping on me. Legs out, fangs sinking into my neck. I’d be dead before I even hit the ground from the shock. Mouth open, heart stopped, pants crapped. There wouldn’t even be a sound. She hung around for a few weeks and then she was gone.
At the end of summer last year, we had another large spider hanging off the free standing basketball pole/net thing we have next to the garage. This spider wasn’t so smart, though just as fearsome, and pretty lucky apparently. It was huge, but couldn’t seem to get the hang of stringing a web from the basketball pole to the garage. Too much gap. It finally settled on the garage gutter before it disappeared into winter. This one I took pictures of. I was scared the whole time but I think I captured it’s terrifying essence.
Keep in mind, the pictures are close-up, and against a standard roof top gutter. It is huge. It was huge.
But this one was still SMALLER than the one inside the house. If that was a quarter, again, the one in the house was a TEALIGHT. Wearing pants.
Take a big drink. Swallow. And peek through your fingers at these:
just shy of pretty 